A journalist, Alexander’s first assignment was to interview stripper Gypsy Rose Lee. In 1951 she became the first female staff writer at Life magazine, where she wrote the award-winning column “The Feminine Eye”, and in 1969 was the first female editor of McCall’s magazine.
But she is best known as the liberal voice in the weekly debate on CBS’s 60 Minutes, where she countered the conservative James Kilpatrick in the “Point/Counterpoint” segment in the 1970s. The segment was such a cultural icon that it was sent up hilariously on Saturday Night Live, where Dan Aykroyd debated Jane Curtin, sighing “Jane, you ignorant slut!” Alexander died June 23 from cancer. She was 79.